On Monday, Twitter (TWTR +0.00%) tweeted the date of its second-quarter earnings date.
Twitter will report Q2'15 earnings results on Jul. 28, 2015, after market close. #TWTRearnings Details: http://t.co/o5St3CRk4d
— TwitterIR (@TwitterIR) July 6, 2015
After market close on Tuesday, July 28, investors will be watching closely when the social media company's quarterly results go live. Amid a search for a new CEO as the company aims to find ways to catalyze higher user growth rates, investors are hoping the quarter's news can soothe market doubts. Since the company went public, Twitter stock has not only underperformed the market, but also shares are down about 15% from the $40-plus levels it achieved after its first day of trading as a public company.
Can Twitter live up to the Street's expectations for growth, or will the company continue to disappoint?
The expectations
Analysts, on average, expect revenue to reach $480.9 million, up 54% from revenue in the year-ago quarter. The figure is at the high end of Twitter's guidance range of $470 million to $485 million in second-quarter revenue. While 54% year-over-year revenue growth is certainly robust, it would be a meaningful deceleration from the company's revenue growth rates in recent quarters. Twitter's year-over-year revenue growth rates for Q4 of 2014 and Q1 of 2015 were 97% and 74%, respectively.
The consensus analyst estimate for non-GAAP earnings per share is $0.04, up from $0.02 in the year-ago quarter and $0.07 in Q1.
Investors will look for Twitter to maintain its full-year guidance for revenue in the range of $2.17 to $2.27 billion -- a range that was reduced in Q1 from a previously forecast range of $2.3 billion to $2.35 billion.
Focusing on user growth
The market is likely to pay particularly close attention to the number of monthly active users reported for the quarter. The market hoped the young social media platform would quickly attract a larger audience, but Twitter's underwhelming and decelerating user growth has failed to impress the Street.
As far back as Twitter's data on monthly active users goes, year-over-year growth rates in the company's user base have been trending downward.
Data for chart retrieved from SEC filing for quarters shown. Chart source: Author.
Twitter has been trying to address this problem recently by adding features aimed at making the service easier for new users. Investors will be hoping to see evidence that these efforts are beginning to pay off when Twitter reports second-quarter results.
Want to ask Twitter management your own questions? You may get your chance. Following the release of its quarterly results after market close on Tuesday, July 28, it will host a live earnings call at 2 p.m. Pacific Time. In addition to fielding questions from conference call participants, it will also consider questions submitted on Twitter to @TwitterIR with hashtag #TWTRearnings.
After Twitter's second-quarter financial results are posted, investors will be able to find a copy of the earnings release on its investor relations page. And anyone can tune into the live conference call here.
